Time to get fill of Shasta

Wednesday

SHASTA LAKE - Among the most glorious outdoor sights in California is immense Shasta Lake filled to the brim with a reflection of snow-capped Mount Shasta in the distance.

SHASTA LAKE - Among the most glorious outdoor sights in California is immense Shasta Lake filled to the brim with a reflection of snow-capped Mount Shasta in the distance.

For my money, it doesn't get any better than that. It's a scene so powerful and grand that it fills my senses.

And in a time when the economy continues to be a challenge, many people likely will spend vacations close to home and, perhaps, on a budget that includes renting a modest cabin or campsite near a lake or stream. Others might pool funds and share the rental cost of a houseboat at Shasta, McClure and New Melones lakes. There are plenty of deals online at houseboats.com as resorts look to rebound after successive years of drought.

"In the recreation business, it is very positive when lake levels are up," said Michael Han at Jones Valley Resort at Shasta Lake. "Everyone is experiencing an increase in bookings and seem extremely optimistic. It all correlates with a full lake and campgrounds located on the tree line at the water's edge."

Shasta, with its 365 miles of shoreline - larger than San Francisco Bay - is unusual among impoundments because it receives 90 percent of its water from rain. Only 10 percent comes from snow melt. This week more than 40,000 cubic feet per second of life-giving water is pouring into the lake from its four tributaries - the Pit, Sacramento and McCloud rivers and Squaw Creek. Because we're bouncing back from a drought, the Bureau of Reclamation did not make its normal January and February releases from Shasta Dam.

"All of the water is staying in the lake," Han said. "It's nice to see Shasta, our crown jewel, fill so quickly. It's just amazing."

Han's marina and houseboat operations extend to New Melones and McClure lakes in the Mother Lode region. Han believes these impoundments will have water levels "up substantially" over 2009, but it will take time for the snow to melt. These lakes depend primarily on snow, not rain, so increased water will arrive later.

"Everything is timed and perfectly aligned for summer," Han said. "To come out of a drought to have these kinds of water levels is what every family wants to enjoy in an outdoors experience."

Even the critters are responding. Last week, Han observed two otters playing and wrestling on a jet ski ramp, golden eagles on the Pit River and bald eagles in most every cove at Shasta. Geese and ducks are swimming about with their young, black bears are lumbering right down the dock and jumping in for a swim, and black-tailed deer are nibbling along the shoreline.

Shasta Lake is known as the "houseboat capital," and Han is readying his fleet of 65-foot houseboats - the largest rental boats in the country - complete with three stories that sleep 22 people. These floating palaces are outfitted with no fewer than eight flat-screen televisions and five refrigerators, plus fireplaces and water slides that corkscrew through the second and third stories and shoot you out the back of the boat.

Han has developed a contest, too. All that is required is to write a 300-word essay about why your family deserves a week-long houseboat vacation at Shasta Lake. Deadline to submit the story is May 10. Details are on his website.

Steve Gaines, president of Redding-based Shasta Cascade Wonderland Association, expects a brisk summer business and travel to the eight Northern California counties.

"We are projecting a prounounced upswing in rural tourism," Gaines said. "Water is the catalyst to everything and, this summer, we've got it."